What is the Difference Between Meditation and Mindfulness

Both are beautiful practices that have been passed down for thousands of years as tools to enhance inner peace, personal awareness and happiness.

Meditation and Mindfulness are similar, and there is overlap between the experiences. Just as there are close similarities between twins, and yet each has their own uniqueness in identity. Too often teachers use the terms interchangeably. However, noticing and understanding the similarities and differences can help provide a stronger foundation for a rewarding practice.

Mindfulness can be practiced anywhere and anytime because it is awareness of what is happening here and now in the present moment. You may be walking, driving, doing dishes, sitting in a waiting room or staff meeting, lying in bed, exercising, etc. Then to practice mindfulness you focus on one thing at a time and notice as much detail as you can about that thing before moving on to the next.

'Noticing' happens through the senses. Aristotle around 200BC defined the 5 most familiar senses still taught in most schooling systems: sight, touch, hearing, taste and smell. It is also helpful to notice other senses such as the internal experience of the breath, quality of the mind, body positions, and feelings - both emotional and physical such as pain, temperature, body sensations and more. There is a lot to be aware of in the present moment and you can choose to focus via any sense to begin.

While the experience of mindfulness varies, you may feel more present, calmer, more centred and experience clearer thinking than usual.

Meditation is more often practiced sitting or lying down with the body supported, and the eyes closed to allow your consciousness to expand beyond the present moment. Here the experience can be varied and difficult to put into words. It may be recognisable as the blissful, drifty zone before sleep. The awareness becomes different again to either the usual state or the mindful state, perhaps becoming both softer and sharper, slower and clearer. There may also be a shift in the sensations inside the body. For example, if before the practice you were 'in pain' with a headache, you may find this shifts during the practice to having an awareness of the pain of the headache. Noticing the experience of the headache, though not being 'in' the pain.

The overlap between Mindfulness and Meditation

Above we talked about the differences in the experience, here's where the experiences overlap and the reason for the terms being used interchangeably.

Mindfulness is a gateway into meditation.

Focusing on a single point of attention, can steady thinking, allowing you to witness the mind itself. In doing so you know you are not only your mind. But you are also the witness of your mind. Two parts of the human psyche.

Imagine you are practicing mindfulness as you walk along a path in nature. As you walk, you lean into gratitude, becoming mindful of things you are grateful for, and in doing so enhance your heart-mind connection. Then, softly and gradually you begin to notice one thing at a time, perhaps the sounds of your feet as each foot rolls across the ground from heal to toe. Then after concentrating on aspects of the present moment for 10 to 40 minutes you may begin to enter a different state of reality to your usual state. It is at this point that mindfulness meets meditation. At this point you may notice a shift in your reality. Perhaps you notice your thoughts are clearer, kinder and or more profound. You may find insights about the world or broad perspective solutions to your problems or worries. You may notice the leaves twinkling in the trees as amazing beauty, or the earth may seem less solid. You may notice there is no separateness between the bird calls and your body, they simply pass right through without the usual resistance. In this new reality sound is not just met with the ears, but with every cell of the body. Beauty to is not just met with the eyes but becomes a whole body cellular experience. You may see energies in new ways that reveal the truth of life on earth. This expansive state is a form of meditation. Yet with the eyes open, the body active and the awareness in the present moment, it is also a mindful practice. This is mindful-meditation. Same-same only different.